Jeffrey Siger is an American bestselling author living on Mykonos, an Aegean Greek island. He is native to Pittsburgh, a city in Pennsylvania and an ex-wall Street Lawyer. Jeff, left his career as a lawyer to become a writer specialized in mystery thriller genre. His novels are mainly themed on the contextual societal issues facing the modern Greece society as well as touching the ancient Greece roots.

Many of Jeffrey Siger friends thought that he would be imprisoned or banished from his adopted country, Greece if he began writing murder related novels based on the country. However, on the contrary, his debut novel Murder in Mykonos received was widely accepted and was listed as the number one bestselling English novel in Greece.

Jeffrey Siger was inspired into penning down his novels by renowned authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, August Wilson (a playwright), Cormac McCarthy, Robert Frost (a poet) and the Poisoned Pen Press mystery writers.

Jeffrey Siger novels have been published in the UK, the US, German (written in German), and Greece (written in both Greek and English). Apart from being a writer, Jeff has served as Chair of the National Board of Bouchercon (NBB) considered as the world’s largest mystery convention. In addition, he serves as Adjunct Professor of English at Jefferson and Washington College where he teaches mystery writing.

Section on Characters & Books written

Character

A popular character in the novels written by Jeffrey Siger is Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, a second generation police officer from Athens, Greece. According to the author, Andreas Kaldis, is a politically incorrect cop but an honest observer who perseveres and grows despite the turbulence in his beloved country. Throughout the entire series, the author nurtures this protagonist as he tries to bring out the whole idea of the confronting issues facing the modern day Greece.

Books written

The first novel written by author Jeffrey Siger is Murder in Mykonos which was published in 2008, the second book in the Andreas Kaldis series Assassins of Athens published in 2009. The series now features eight novels which focus on the main protagonist Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis.

1. Murder in Mykonos

This debut novel is exciting and the author opens on Mykonos, where Andreas Kaldis, a former Athens homicide detective has just been posted as the Chief of Police. The detective discovers that, almost where he looks he seems to discover dead bodies; bodies of dead girls, a tourist from Northern Europeans countries. To his surprise, he seems to discover bones of the long dead people from the locations of the recent deaths. These bodies are all discovered in churches, which is kind of weird and the local Mayor wants to keep all these revelations a secret as he fears that they would have an effect on the tourism on the local island.

Andreas and his assistants are willing to help to curb the spread of panic news about a potential serial killer on the island from breaking loose, but they are soon alerted that the Niece (Dutch/Greek) of the Deputy Minister, Renatis (the person responsible for transferring Andreas to the island.) is on the island but unfortunately reported missing and therefore she must be found at all costs before anything terrible happens to her.

The investigation now turns to a rescue mission and the chief inspector finds himself plunged in the ancient myths and the forgotten island places racing against time to find the potential serial killer.

The technical aspects of the search for the missing woman are vividly explained bit by bit as the greater part of the Greek Island is mined with deep caves and underground caverns that must be searched. To further intensify the tensions, the missing girl’s thoughts and ordeals are described while in her isolation.

Apart from the light humor expressed in the book, the author also brings out a very enjoyable atmosphere which vividly captures the Greek way of life and the difficulties that a normal detective experiences under the heat and the humidity.

2. Prey on Patmos

Kalogeros Vassilis, a local monk on the little island of Patmos is found dead in the town square. Chief Inspector Andreas Kladis and Yianni Kouros, his sidekick are dispatched to the island to carry out an investigation on what is believed to be a possible murder. But who could have hated such a vulnerable to the point of killing him? The mountain landscape host twenty monasteries making the island of Patmos the Centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

A local police sergeant explains that the monk’s dead body has already been moved for burial preparations. The chief inspector later learns more information than he could get from either Vassilis or the Patmos police from Dmitri, a chatty café owner.

Dmitri, explains to Andreas, about a plot by Russians to move the island key monasteries to Russia. Later a secret meeting held by Andreas Kaldis and a well-protected person identified only as “Your Holiness” confirms Dmitri’s rumors and confirms Vassilis as the target in the plot.

This complicated case comes at an inconvenient time for Andreas, whose lover Lila Vardi is pregnant and expecting their first child. On top of this, Andreas begins to have nightmares about his father, a policeman who was framed for corruption and committed suicide when Andrea’s was only 8 years of age. As Kaldis continues with the investigation, he discovers more than he bargained for and he begins to feel that he is becoming more of a sacrificial lamb. No one seems to want him to find out the person responsible for the whole ordeal so that he can go back home to be with his pregnant girlfriend.

The existing bantering relationship between him and Kouros adds some humor and warmth in his life and takes a break when he discovers a key evidence inside a cross that the victim is clutching.

This intriguing novel combines an unexpected plot that keeps the reader connected and attentive throughout. The background of the Greek Church is fascinating itself, while Kaldis and his sidekick Yianni work together as a team to accomplish their mission while maintaining their sense of humor.

With the latest book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney coming out soon, we wanted to make the very first book in the series our book of the month.

Greaney is an incredible author and if you love the "lone badass" type of books then you will LOVE the Court "Gray Man" Gentry series. Read more about it.

Featured Series

It might seem like overkill, but we're giving The Gray Man series our featured series of the month.

Honestly this is such a great series and we feel not enough people read it so we want to push it. Read more about The Gray Man series and seriously if you haven't read it - start! Amazing thrillers.

Featured Author

Mark Greaney is an incredibly talented author. Not only does he write the Gray Man series however he also writes various Jack Ryan novels. Many feel he is the best writer of them and he truly is a great author. We're happy to award our author of the month to Mark Greaney.

Did You Know…

Besides short story and novel writing, Clive Barker has been actively involved in screenwriting and film production. His early screenplays include Underworldand Rawhead Rex but after witnessing the disappointing picturization of his work, Barker went on to discover the art of filmmaking on his own. He produced The Forbidden and Salome to lukewarm response. He also directed several of the stories from The Book of Blood. Two of his acclaimed major motion pictures include Candyman series and the Hellraiser.